An Air force brat raised in Colorado Springs, Ellis stayed in Colorado for school, attending the University of Colorado for his undergraduate degree in political science, and getting his J.D. from the University of Denver. He now lives with his wife and two children in Parker, Colorado, despite the long commute to the office.

In his over twenty five years as a litigator, twenty four of which have been with the firm, he has emphasized a litigation practice that includes all aspects of insurance defense litigation before the District Courts of the State of Colorado and the U.S. District Court including automobile related claims, insurance litigation, bad faith claims, legal malpractice, premises liability and dram shop liability claims, product liability and construction defect. His experience has reached the point that he is surprised not only that the younger attorneys in the office ask him for advice, but he actually knows the answer.

Ellis prides himself on being able to understand which cases can be or should be tried. For that reason, he not only has a reputation in the legal community as someone willing to try cases, but is proud to say that in his automobile defense practice, a jury has never returned anything but a defense verdict, or a verdict substantially less than the offers of settlement. He has tried cases in the counties of Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Denver, El Paso, Jefferson, Larimer, Las Animas, Morgan, Routt, and Weld, and in the U.S. District Court.

Ellis has also been involved in appellate decisions that are part of Colorado precedent including ITT Specialty Risk Servs. v. Avis Rent a Car, 985 P.2d 43 (Colo. App. 1998), Allstate Ins. Co. v. Avis Rent-A-Car, 947 P.2d 341 (Colo. 1997), Martin v. Minnard, 862 P.2d 1014 (Colo. App. 1993).

In addition to being admitted to practice in all State and Federal Courts in Colorado, Mr. Mayer is also admitted to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. Mr. Mayer is a member of the Colorado Defense Lawyers' Association, the Colorado Bar Association, and the Arapahoe County Bar Association.

When he isn’t working or going into debt to finance his children's college educations, he works as a day laborer for his wife.